


What if?

by iwritelikeaninja



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-15
Updated: 2013-07-15
Packaged: 2017-12-20 07:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/884395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwritelikeaninja/pseuds/iwritelikeaninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Voldemort didn't kill Harry. What if he chose Neville instead. What if...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. I came up with this story a few weeks ago, but just never got round to writing it down. I hope you like it. <3

Tap tap. It was around 6am on November 1st 1981. There was an owl tapping on the Potter's window. Lily Potter, reluctantly got up and opened the window. The small bird hopped onto the windowsill and Lily took the letter that was sitting in the owl's beak. It was addressed to James and Lily Potter and was written in small, loopy writing. Dumbledore. Lily let the owl fly away and shut the window. James had been woken by the noise of the window shutting and was rubbing his eyes and said "who is sending letters at this ungodly hour?" Lily recognised the writing and replied "Dumbledore" James sat up at his name. "What's it say??" James asked curiously. "I dunno" Lily mumbled as she tore the envelope open and unfolded the letter. She read the letter, and she gasped and her hand went to her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. James got up and hugged her from behind, "Lil, what did it say" Lily spoke, obviously still in great shock stammered, tears now falling down her face, "Frank and Alice, a...a...are dead." James' eyes widened and he held Lily tight. "Neville?" Neville was Frank and Alice's son, he had the same birthday as Harry, their son. "Alive." James sighed, in relief. Voldemort was going to come after either Harry or Neville. To kill them. James kissed Lily's cheek. "What about, him" James enquired. "Disappeared" Lily answered. "Dead presumably" They were interrupted by a small whine from the next room. Lily got up and left to tend to Harry and James read over Dumbledore's letter.

"Dear James and Lily  
I am regretful to tell you that in the late hours of last night, Voldemort murdered Frank and Alice Longbottom. Their son Neville lives. Voldemort was destroyed whilst trying to kill him. He is currently living with his grandmother. Harry is no longer in danger. Please feel free to live your lives as normal, now that Voldemort is gone. The funeral will take place this coming Saturday. All three of you are invited to attend.   
Sincerely   
Albus Dumbledore"

James was about to start crying when Lily walked in, holding Harry. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his little son. Harry was rubbing his eyes and had leaned his head on Lily's shoulder. He perked up a little when he saw James. "Dada" He said and leaned forward and grasping his chubby little fists, indicating that he wanted James. James stood up and took him from Lily. "Hey there little man. Wanna get some breakfast" Harry gave him a little smile and said "Yaaaaaaa" Lily smiled at both of them, wondering how she had been so lucky to get not one but two amazing men in her life.   
It was Saturday. Frank and Alice's funeral. The whole Order of the Phoenix turned up. Even Dumbledore was there. Neville was in a little black suit, being held by his grandmother. James couldn't help but notice a small mark on his head. He presumed he was seeing things. Lily spoke about Alice, as they were close friends during school and remained friends after leaving. Alice had been a bridesmaid at Lily and James' wedding.   
"Alice was kind and caring, lovely to all who met her. She loved life and would be telling me right now not to cry even though it feels impossible not to. I don't think there was a day where I never saw her smile. She met someone who made her so happy and I couldn't think of a better man for her. Frank and Alice were meant to be. They loved each other with all they had and they cherished Neville. It saddens me to know that their son will never truly know his parents and what wonderful people they were. It was so cruel for them to be taken away from their son. The only thing that I can find happy, is that they are together. They truly meant the words 'till death do us part' but I believe that they are still together, wherever they are. They will both be missed dearly."  
She whispered the last lines with a great deal of tears in her eyes. She took out a small locket that Alice had given her for Christmas in first year and placed in in the ground, on top of her casket. "Bye Ali" she whispered. James handed Harry to Sirius, who was sitting next to him, so he could go and hug Lily. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was seventeen. This reminded her of them. Funerals in general were a horribly sad affair for Lily. James went to Lily and hugged her, before gently guiding her back to her seat. He took Harry from Sirius and placed him on Lily's lap. She took him and stroked his wild black hair, tears still falling from her face. "I love you Harry" She whispered to her son. He replied with "Wuv mama". This was enough to put a grin on Lily's face.  
It was around 7pm when arrived home from the funeral. Harry had fallen asleep on the way home and James had put him to bed. Lily was sitting on the couch staring into space. James came downstairs and saw her just sitting, staring. He sat next to her and kissed her. Lily kissed him back. James pulled her closer to him and Lily broke away and leaned her head on his shoulder. James was playing with her hair. It was his second favourite thing about her. After her eyes. He hated seeing her eyes filled with tears, it blocked their beauty. The night ended with Lily falling asleep on James's lap and James picking her up very carefully and taking her to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been about a month since Frank and Alice's funeral. Lily and James had taken to having Neville on the weekends, to give his grandmother a break. James had discovered that he hadn't been seeing things at the funeral. Neville had a small lighting scar on his forehead. Harry was nice to him and the two boys played well together. Molly Weasley would occasionally come over with her daughter, her youngest son and her twins. Little Ginny was only a few months old so she couldn't play quite yet. Harry and Ron got on well whilst the twins, Fred and George caused havoc. It was a very busy time. The Order was getting more and more reports of death eaters now that Voldemort was gone. It was new years eve when this really started to effect them. The letterbox clattered and a letter addressed to James fell on the welcome mat. The Order had taken to using muggle post and writing there letters in code. If a muggle looked at the letter, it would look like a cheery letter from James' mother asking him how he was, but to a wizard it was nothing of the sort. Harry had been put to bed and Neville was spending new year with his family. James heard the clatter of the letter box and got up to get it. He immediately ripped open the letter and said, very loudly,   
"BLOODY..."   
Lily came in and interrupted him.   
"What is it."   
She saw the letter in his hand and knew it wasn't good.   
"Dumbledore wants me for a mission." he said quickly re-scanning the letter.  
"For how long?"   
Lily was starting to get worried, she had never seen James this upset before.   
"Three months. They want me to go after Sirius' delightful cousin Bellatrix."   
Lily's mouth fell open.   
"Three months." she mouthed.   
She took the letter and looked at it quickly.   
"They want you to leave tonight".   
James took Lily in his arms and said   
"I love you so very very very much. I want you to listen" Lily nodded  
"I..I..If I don't come back" Lily cut him off   
"You have to come back. You HAVE to" Lily yelled.   
James kissed her and said   
"I'll try Lily I'll try."   
Then there was a knock on the door...  
"POTTER!!"   
Mad Eye Moody's voice bellowed through the house. James reached and opened the door. Moody immediately barged in and said   
"Come on boy, we're leaving"   
James looked at him   
"what now?!?"   
"NO IN THREE WEEKS TIME!!" Moody bellowed.   
"We have to leave NOW!!!"   
James turned to say something to Lily, bit she wasn't there. He turned to the stairs and saw Lily carrying a sleeping Harry.   
"I thought you should say goodbye" Lily murmured.   
James placed a kiss right on Harry's forehead and then turned and kissed Lily. It was a long kiss.   
"Sorry to break up this little heartfelt goodbye, but we have some death eaters to catch." Moody growled.   
Lily and James broke apart and Lily hugged him and whispered in his ear   
"I love you too" before kissing him on the lips once more.   
Moody went out the door and James followed him closing the door and blowing Lily a kiss. The door shut and Lily looked down at her sleeping son and started crying. It was a miracle that Harry was still asleep. She didn't want to put him back in his crib and so when Sirius came in the next morning he found them both curled up on the couch, fast asleep. Sirius chuckled at the sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAH DAHHHHHHH. I know there wasn't much about Neville in this part but I really want to concentrate on James and Lily's lives before I go on about Neville's life.


	3. Chapter 3

Ever since James had gone away that night, almost three months ago, Lily had barely let Harry out of her sight. There had been no owls from him. Nothing. Lily began to worry a few days after he'd left. He always sent letters to her when he was on a mission. As you can imagine, after almost three months, Lily was constantly on edge. Sirius had taken to coming round each day to make sure she was okay and that she was eating well. Harry was completely oblivious as to why his Mummy was so anxious but he did enjoy seeing his uncle Sirius more often. That was the only thing that had kept Lily going through those last few months. Harry and Harry being happy. He was a very happy baby. He reminded Lily so much of James. Apart from his eyes.  
February 21st 1982.   
Lily's birthday had come and passed and she wasn't really up to doing anything. James was due home any day now and Lily was more on edge than ever. She had fallen asleep on the couch again, with Harry, who was napping peacefully. She was woken by the sound of the front door and presumed it was Sirius. She snuggled back down and closed her eyes. She felt Sirius go past her and he was making quite a racket doing so. She opened her eyes to tell him to be quiet because Harry was sleeping, and there he was. James Potter, dirty and dishevelled, tired looking but happy. Lily gasped and her hand went to her mouth and tears began to fill in her eyes. She carefully put Harry on the sofa and flung herself at James, tears streaming down her face. She kissed him passionately and whispered,   
"Three months is really too long."  
They could talk later but right then, Lily just wanted to be with him, no matter how unclean he was. Harry rubbed his little eyes and woke up to see his Daddy smiling at him.   
"DADDEH!!" He shouted in his little baby voice. James picked him up and started kissing his head.   
"I missed you baby boy" Harry looked at him and frowned,   
"I is a big boy Daddeh".   
James smiled at him and kissed him again. He hugged Lily so that Harry was in between then.   
"You are not allowed to leave ever again" Lily whispered.  
James grinned.   
"I'm not going anywhere"   
He kissed her again and pulled her and Harry as close to him as he could.   
It was James' birthday soon. And Lily wanted it to be brilliant, as he'd only been a couple of weeks. She'd always struggled to buy him a present, but eventually always found him the perfect thing. She was very tempted to buy him a book entitled " 1001 different wizarding pranks" but then soon realised that he probably knew them all already. She had almost given up when she was walking past Quality Quidditch Supplies, when she saw it. The Nimbus 1001. It was perfect. She went in and asked for the price. Fifty galleons. Lily winced at the price, but decided to buy it anyway. She had to go back to Gringotts to get most of the money but convinced herself it was worth it. She decided to hide it at her friend Marlene McKinnon's house.   
"Bloody hell Lily, that must have cost you a fortune!!" Marlene exclaimed as soon as she opened the door.   
"Nice to see you too Marley" Lily said sarcastically.   
She made her way into the hall.   
"Do mind hiding this here for a bit. Just until James' birthday.   
"Sure, I'll put it in the attic".   
Lily handed her friend the long thin package.   
"I'm sorry for the flying visit but I told James I was only going to the Apothecary for some horned slugs for a weed killing solution."   
Marlene nodded.   
"That's alright" Lily smiled.   
"Thanks Marlene"   
She hugged her friend as best as she could and left with a crack.   
Lily appeared in the living room and Harry toddled towards her. He lifted his hands above his head and Lily picked him up.   
" Hey there little man. Where's Daddy? Huh?"   
Harry grinned and said   
"Kishen"   
Lily walked into the kitchen, still holding Harry, and an odd stench met her nose. James was bent over a of something at the stove. Lily smiled.   
"James, you know you can't cook toast never mind anything else."   
James spun around.   
"I'm trying chicken soup!" He exclaimed.   
Lily walked over to the pot and looked in. It wasn't a pretty sight. It was off green and bits of raw chicken were bobbing up and down in the liquid. Lily brought out her wand and made the soup look as it should. James peered into the pot.   
"Ahhhh that's how it's supposed to look." Lily laughed.   
"Just leave it to simmer for ten minutes whilst I get some bowls. And James."   
"Yeah"   
"Promise me you'll never try to cook again when I go out." James smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I liked writing this chapter. Nice and fluffeh. James and Lily are so close to being my OTP but then Ron/Hermione and Doctor/Rose come in and shout LOOK AT MEEHHHHH. So I can't choose. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'll try not to leave it for too long the next time.

**Author's Note:**

> That is the end of this chapter. It might be a oneshot but if I come up with any ideas i will make some more chapters :D.


End file.
